Pantothenic acid is also referred to as vitamin B5, is a constituent factor of coenzyme A which is indispensable for metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins and production of energy, and is also involved in synthesis of cholesterol, hormones, and immune antibodies.
As described above, pantothenic acid is an important compound which is involved in various functions in a living body and various symptoms appear in the body when pantothenic acid is deficient. For example, secretion of sebum is disturbed and turnover of the skin is not properly performed due to deficiency of pantothenic acid, and dermatitis, acne, and rough skin are caused. Further, it is also known that white hair or alopecia is caused when pantothenic acid is deficient (see PTL 1).
In addition, pantothenic acid is known to be involved in production of collagen precursors or growth factors of epidermal cells (see NPL 1) and it has also been reported that pantothenic acid has a fibroblast proliferative action (see NPL 2).
Since various symptoms are caused due to deficiency of pantothenic acid, various external agents formed by blending pantothenic acid, pantothenic acid derivatives, or salts of these have been examined in order to ameliorate these symptoms.
However, the above-described external agents of the related art formed by blending pantothenic acid and the like have a problem that the effect of ameliorating symptoms is insufficient. In order to ameliorate symptoms caused by the deficiency of pantothenic acid, pantothenic acid derivatives having high absorbability into a body are considered to be effective for use. Therefore, a novel pantothenic acid derivative having high absorbability into a body has been needed.